Air-cooled power modules, such as power inverters, rely on a sufficient flow of air to remove heat generated during normal modes of operation. The capacity to provide adequate cooling in an air-cooled system may be compromised by faults related to one or more causes. For example, an air filter may become clogged from a dusty environment or from inadequate maintenance procedures. Heat sinks associated with a particular power module may also become clogged or otherwise compromised due to missing or leaking air filters. In addition, physical objects may block the flow of air, for example, when a power module not designed for wall-mounting is physically installed on a wall. Air-cooling may be provided by one or more fans, and the fans themselves may fail or otherwise be incapable of supplying a sufficient flow of air. For example, the fan motor may malfunction, or the fan may be placed in an environment where there is an inadequate supply of air.
In some instances, inadequate cooling may trigger a safety measure that causes the power module to be powered down. It would therefore be advantageous to detect and identify a fault associated with inadequate cooling before resorting to shutting down the module. In addition, the ability to determine if sufficient cooling is available and to identify one or more causes of faults related to air flow would be helpful in creating an autonomous system that has the ability to quickly detect and self-diagnose different sources of faults. Detecting and identifying the cause of a fault related to airflow may allow a field service engineer to quickly respond and resolve the problem based on the specific type of fault. This would decrease downtime in one or more systems, and subsequently increase overall efficiency.